THERMAL, Calif.--Colombia’s Mark Bluman had the first major CSI5* victory of his career on Friday, Dec. 13, at the Desert International Horse Park in the $200,000 CSI5* Major League Show Jumping Classic.
Mark Bluman on Concare PS (Photo by High Desert Sport Photo)Bluman on Concare PS was one of just two to advance to the jump-off, which he won.
Course designer Alan Wade, along with Colm Quinn, set a challenging first-round track for the Friday night featured class with 38 competitorsn.
As the ninth to go, U.S. Olympian Laura Kraut on Tres Bien Z made the course look easy, producing the first clear round of the evening.
But after Kraut, none went clean until, as the 36th to go, Bluman went clean to guarantee that there would be a jump-off.
While Kraut and Bluman were the only ones clean, six others went clean but had time faults.
Finishing with just one time fault were Emilie Conter on Portobella van de Fruitkorf who placed third, Roberto Teran Tafur on Dez’ Ooktoff who was fourth and Amy Millar on Jagger HX who was fifth.
IN THE jump-off, Kraut went first in what appeared to be a quick clean, finishing in 37.93 seconds.
Bluman, though, shaved 0.45 seconds off to win in 37.48 seconds.
“She did nine strides down the middle; I did eight,” said Bluman. “I think that’s where I actually got my time.”
“When I walked the course, it looked like a good track," said Bluman. I thought there were going to be plenty clear. I thought we were going to have a fast jump-off, but as the class went on, it was riding more difficult than what it actually looked like when we walked. That’s the beauty of having Alan Wade building here. He’s an unbelievable course designer.”
“I’ve had Concare since May, and actually recently, I just bought a part of her together with a friend of mine,” said Bluman. “She’s a super horse with all the scope. Classes like the one today, with not that many clears, suit her because she’s not the fastest, so it was a good time to try to get the win, and she performed unbelievably."
“It’s my first major 5* grand prix win, so I’m quite happy to have it on a horse that I just recently acquired," he said. "It still hasn’t sunk in all the way.”